OCTOBER 5, 2006 -- TXP Corp., provider of pre-manufacturing services for the electronics industry, has signed a Letter of Intent with Siemens AG to acquire the assets and intellectual property for its Optical Network Terminal (ONT) technology, supporting both BPON and GPON standards. The Letter of Intent is non-binding and is subject to the completion of customary due diligence and the execution of definitive agreements. The transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2006.
Upon completion of the proposed acquisition, TXP will be responsible for overseeing all manufacturing of the technology and will have rights to market the ONT technology. Siemens' ONT portfolio contains BPON ONTs for single family units (SFUs), multi-dwelling units (MDUs), and small business units (SBU) and GPON ONTs for SFUs, Ethernet-only SFUs (ESFUs), and SBUs. Under the terms of the agreement, Siemens will retain an undisclosed licensing fee and rights to market the technology internationally. Other terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.
Separately, TXP announced that it has hired Siemens' former ONT development team effective immediately. As a result, TXP has added 35 full-time employees. In connection with the hiring, TXP announced that it has renamed its photonics group to iphotonics.
"The acquisition of the ONT business from Siemens has the potential to dramatically expand our photonics business, and we expect it will position us at the forefront of the rapidly growing PON market," contends Michael C. Shores, president and CEO of TXP. "We are extremely excited about the prospects for this business, given the massive expenditures planned by the carriers as they role out new triple-play services nationwide."
"We are especially pleased to welcome the new ONT team to TXP," he says. "The ONT group is an integral supplier to Siemens' solutions business, which covers an end-to-end GPON portfolio. In addition, we plan to rapidly attack this market by leveraging the group's existing carrier relationships and establishing additional reseller relationships with other equipment providers and carriers across the US."
"By combining the ONT group's design capabilities with TXP's design for manufacturability, global product launch model, and TXP's numerous tier-one EMS relationships, we intend to become a dominant provider of ONT technology within the rapidly growing market for "triple-play" services," adds Joel Z. Futterman, newly appointed vice president of ONT develop at iphotonics.
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